This invention relates to dryers for extracting moisture from wet goods, such as linens, and in particular to a dryer having a housing shell for the tumbler thereof which is pivotally supported at its top so that the contents of the tumbler can be expelled directly beneath the shell.
Dryers of the nature of the present invention are typically utilized in commercial laundering facilities where large quantities of wet linens are dried in batches of up to several hundred pounds. Typically, wet linens are delivered to the dryer in large "cakes" on an appropriate conveyor, such as that set forth in our copending U.S. patent Ser. No. 540,436 filed Oct. 11, 1983 entitled "Shuttle".
A typical commercial dryer includes a tumbler cylinder mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and which has an open side through which wet goods are inserted and dried goods are removed. The cylinder is housed within a shell and is rotated about the horizontal axis. The shell is pivoted at its bottom so that the shell can be tipped forward or rearward to permit dry linens to be expelled therefrom.
A particular disadvantage of prior art dryers is the fact that the dryer occupies a substantial quantity of floor space. Since the dryer shell is pivoted at its bottom, the dryer unloads either toward its front or toward its rear, which requires a considerable clearance in the unloading direction. Since such dryers are often used in a semi-automated line of equipment for washing and drying linens, a conveyor for the unloaded linens must be located to one side of the dryer at all times. Thus, access to the dryer at the unloading side is often difficult which makes periodic maintenance of the dryer more complicated.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,067,543 and 2,253,047 disclose dryers which are pivoted at the center of the tumbler shell. However, as shown in the two patents, even center pivoting of the shell requires that loading or unloading be to the front or rear of the dryer, thus required extra space to the front or rear of the dryer, as the case may be. A discharge conveyor would, similar to dryers having the shell pivoted at the bottom, necessarily be located in front of or behind the dryer, creating the same disadvantages as dryers which have a shell pivoted at the bottom.